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The international digital arts and design organization onedotzero has been at the forefront of digital culture for 15 years, and to celebrate have teamed up with ustwo to launch a special onedotzero curated collection of Granimator packs.

Granimator™ is a creative graphics and sound based wallpaper creator for iPad and iPhone.

The user simply downloads a pack by an artist of their choice. They can then draw, tap, pinch, drag and interact with the graphical elements to create stunning compositions and soundscapes using the iPad’s multi-touch function. Finished designs can be shared via handsets or through social networking media: Twitter, Facebook and Flickr.

The packs have been created by some of onedotzero’s collaborators, friends and super talents; illustrators, graphic designers, animators, musicians and fashion designers whose work has been showcased by onedotzero over the last decade and a half. They hail from all over the globe – from Paris to Sau Paulo, Tokyo to Los Angeles and Sheffield to Sapporo via London.

Lobo was invited by ustwo and onedotzero to create an Artist Pack for the Granimator project. Developed by ustwo, a digital design studio operating from Sweden and the UK, Granimator is an iPad app that allows users to create exclusive wallpapers, by mixing and manipulating artwork elements provided in the form of Artist Packs.

So far ustwo have commissioned packs from over 70 artists and studios including Büro Destruct, James Joyce, Grant Orchard and McBess, while also working alongside digital arts organizations like onedotzero, Creative Review and IdN, responsible for curating special pack collections.

When Lobo was asked to contribute a signature Granimator Artist Pack we couldn’t be more excited. After all we were offered complete creative freedom to experiment with a brand new support for artistic expression, a fresh medium that has just begun to be explored.

The one thing we knew we wanted right from the start was for this project to be very collaborative, incorporating the creative input from as many members of our team as possible, each producing his/her own artwork and mixing it all together afterwards. So when we started brainstorming themes, trying to establish a framework to guide the creative work, we looked for concepts that allowed for and inspired variety, that could accommodate diversified imagery within a cohesive whole.

We soon agreed on a concept based around Brazilian folk myths and legends. Brazilian folklore is a treasure trove of folk tales, characters and beliefs, and that richness is due to the country being a veritable melting pot of cultures. From the indigenous peoples inhabiting the land for centuries prior to the European discovery; to the Portuguese settlers who started pouring into South America from the year 1500 on; to the Africans who were brought to Brazil as slaves during the colonial times; to immigrants from many European and Asian countries who came in massive numbers between the 19th and 20th centuries; each of these groups contributed with their own traditions, beliefs, legends and stories, and all those cultural elements blended together and resulted in a repertoire of fantastic lore at the same time unique and resonating with myths from all over the world.

From this vast legacy we researched a roster of the most obscure and outlandish creatures and apparitions, taking their descriptions mainly from the work of renowned Brazilian anthropologist and folklorist Luís da Câmara Cascudo (1898-1986).

Each artist then proceeded to pick a character and create their own visual interpretation of it. After an initial round of layouts, all sketches were gathered together and each participant chose a design from one of his/her colleagues, and further developed it in any way was seen fit. They could expand on it, add details, change some bits, render it in a different technique, and so on.